I have been reading many reviews and am unable to decide between the Ixus 230 and the lumix Tz20.

This will be my first camera so a point and shoot is great. I am going to Thailand in a couple of weeks and would love to bring back some good images.

Basically i can get both these cameras for the same price and while the TZ20 seems to have more funky features, im am not sure ill use them. Taking this into account the 230 may be a better option as the reviews seem to think its image quality is excellent.

My final option is actually the ixus 220. To be honest never having a camera before i am not sure how much emphasis to put on the optical zoom advantage. The 220 is 70 dollars cheaper.

I probably haven't given much of an idea about usage but i guess my question boils down to: which would you personally choose, ixus 230 or lumix Tz20 and why?

If you value image quality more go for the canon, if you like the extra reach in zoom go for the panasonic.But as a travel camera from those two, I would lean to the Panasonic, the extra zoom is a nice feature.

To be honest, im more particular about the image quality and my girlfriend is more particular about the features (GPS etc). Its a joint camera so we're trying to find common ground. I guess while its an incredibly hard question to answer im wondering how often the 8x zoom would actually cause a problem (i.e. how often would i realistically find myself saying i wish i had 16x during normal everyday operation). If the answer is not very often or unlikely then i think the cannon will be the go.

On the other hand, the Lumix does seem to be incredibly popular and it can't have got that way if the images are too bad, so considering they are the same price maybe i should get the extra zoom and bells and whistles.

Unfortunately Ixus 1100 is out of our price range (its around $150 more than the other two). We did see another option today in the shape of the Ixus 1000 HS. We can pick this up again for the same price as the Tz20 and Ixus 230 however, i havent yet had a chance to look at the reviews. I do like the fact it has a 16:9 screen. We decided against the Ixus 320 (also a 16:9 screen) due to the 4.4x optical zoom, we are thinking this may be somewhat limiting.

I am not particularly brand loyal. I buy what ticks all the boxes at the time. I have an older Sony video and Sony DSLR. As a generalisation I have leant to Canon for P&S, but Panasonic and Sony is also on the list these days. Never warmed up to Nikon in the P&S range. If I look at all the P&S around the family and friends, its the other brands, none of the ones mentioned here,that have had various problems. Some issue around lenses generally and needing fixing while under warranty.

Well.. I didnt end up getting the TZ20.. I did some more research and found it also has a few issues with the quality of sound recording and also the quality of video in low light is average at best.

All in all, while i think it would be perfectly fine for the use it will get - i just cant bring myself to buy something when i know it has fundamental downfalls when used in certain circumstances. On the brighter side (depending on how many brownie points i've lost..) the girlfriend has now given me the torch to carry and wants no part in the decision process - its all me now (yes, i actually won!)

The problem, im basically back to square one. Im leaning towards the Ixus 210 because it seems great all round, but the lack of zoom and smaller screen size does bother me slightly. Im VERY tempted to get the Ixus 220 (8x zoom + 3inch screen) but then im spending the same as the TZ20 and despite being given authority to choice to myself im really not sure spending the same for something without the extra "features" would go down too well

Decisions..!

Good to know the ones mentioned here are not commonly having hardware issues, that is some weight off my mind.

I see you have a steep learning curve ahead of you, about woman that is. I have been married a while trust me on this You didn`t win Sometimes it pays to loose, you may then win in the long run when it really matters